Top 10 motorhome holiday destinations in 2025

We all know how the NC500 has become a victim of its own success, so why not enjoy some of the best Scottish scenery on a less crowded route? The NE250 is obviously only half the length of its better-known brother but it’ll have less crowds and you’ll have more time to enjoy it.

Heading north from Aberdeen, the route takes you up the east coast where you’ll find stunning sandy beaches, starting with Balmedie which has two streams cutting through the dunes, creating the perfect habitat for wetland birds. Then, why not take in the Brewdog Brewery, one of Britain’s largest craft ale producers. 

If seafood is to your liking, Fraserburgh is the largest shellfish port in Europe and there are plenty of restaurants here to sample the local catch. And sticking with a foodie theme, the village of Portsoy is famed for its ice cream, while Cullen is the home of the fish soup, Cullen Skink.

This northeastern tip of Scotland includes the Sunshine Coast, one of the driest regions north of the border, as well as the stunning scenery of the Cairngorm mountains. For history buffs, there are the castles of Ballindalloch, Balvenie, Corgarff, Huntly, Tolquhon and most famously, Balmoral. 

You need a great campsite for a great holiday and one of the latest additions to the Premier Parks portfolio is Castle Howard Lakeside Holiday Park. Just across the Great Lake from the spectacular home of the Howard family for the past 300 years, the touring area has grass and hardstanding pitches and is conveniently located for the courtyard shops and cafés.

There’s plenty to enjoy here without driving anywhere at all, including the follies, temples and statues of the ornate gardens and the iconic architecture of the house with its Great Hall rising 70 feet into the air. There’s an adventure playground for the kids and most of the Castle Howard estate is dog-friendly, too, so why not bring the grandchildren and your four-legged friends on this holiday. 

Once you’ve exhausted all the sights of the estate, you’ll not have to venture far for loads more to see and do. The historic city of York, where you can walk the walls and explore the famous Railway Museum, is just 16 miles away. If you want to stretch your legs, get out the maps and boots and head to Heartbeat Country, the North Yorkshire Moors. Finally, feast on fish and chips at Whitby’s renowned Magpie Café.

Motorcycle fans will probably have already been to the Isle of Man for its incredible TT races (26 May to 7 June, 2025), run on a 37-mile road course, but motorhomes are welcome on the island, too.

If you want to avoided the crowds at the TT but enjoy a bit of wheeled fun, the Peel Beach Race on 11 July is for bikes and quads. Or, if you prefer four wheels, visit the amazingly eclectic collection of the Isle of Man Motor Museum at Jurby. Steam enthusiasts can ride the Snaefell Mountain Railway up to the peak at 2,000ft, while, on the east coast, the Manx Electric Railway is over 130 years old, showing that there’s nothing new about travelling under electric power. Perhaps even more eco-friendly is the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway, the world’s oldest horse-drawn tramway.

To get there, just book your crossing from Liverpool or Heysham with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Once you’ve crossed the Irish Sea, you don’t have to be a petrolhead, as you’ll arrive in the first entire nation to be designated a UNESCO Biosphere. Diving, walking, swimming and kayaking are all well catered for on an island that claims to live at nature’s pace. There’s a lot packed into 227 square miles!

Forget the Dordogne, which the Brits seem to love so much that every village is full of ex-pats.

Head instead just a tad further south, to the Lot. Named after its river, which features limestone cliffs, towpaths and vineyards, the Lot valley will captivate any budding Francophile and we’d recommend a stay at Le Moulin du Bel-Air, a wonderfully relaxing campsite run by the very welcoming Anne and Thibaud. This spacious site has a heated swimming pool and is a few minutes’ walk from the village of Saint-Germain-du-Bel-Air. Just a few minutes’ drive away is the Restaurant Mourgues at Peyrilles, offering great food at prices you’ll only find in the less touristy spots.

To stock up with provisions for your own cooking, though, head for Cahors’ colourful market, held each Wednesday and Saturday on the Place Chapou. You won’t be able to resist the cabécou cheese, the quercynois cake or the foie gras but, while you’re here, don’t miss the 13th century Valentré bridge. 

St-Cirq-Lapopie gets busy but this medieval village perched high over the river has quite the vantage point. After the hustle and bustle, why not rent a canoe on the slow-moving tributary of the Lot, the tranquil Célé, or walk the Chemin de Halage with its path carved out of the rock, originally to pull flat-bottomed boats upstream.

Fancy a week in Wales? Why not try the 180-mile long Coastal Way, running the entire length of Cardigan Bay between sea and mountains, past hidden coves and ruined castles.

Start this tour in the pretty fishing village of Aberdaron on the western tip of the Llyn peninsula. Head via the castle ruins on the rocky headland at Criccieth and enjoy the food here at Dylan’s restaurant, situated in a sensational seafront Art Deco building. A little further on and you might need to pinch yourself to remember that you’re still in Wales – if you’re lucky with the weather, you really could believe that Clough Williams-Ellis’ architectural masterpiece is an Italian village. 

As you head south, a walk across the old wooden railway bridge spanning the estuary at Barmouth is a must, then get out the binoculars for a bit of seal-watching at Cwmtydu and take a dolphin-spotting boat trip at New Quay (no, we’re not in Cornwall now!). In between, the pastel-coloured houses around the harbour at Aberaeron are sure to get you snapping your holiday pics.

Newport has a whole mile of golden sandy beach and it’s dog-friendly, as well as being popular for all manner of water sports. Finally, finish your tour at Barafundle Bay, said to be Pembrokeshire’s jewel in the crown but only accessible by footpath.

If you live in the south, it can seem a long trek to Scotland, so why not make things a little easier on yourself – and spend less on fuel – by stopping just over the border? There’s wonderful walking country here and quiet roads that aid the relaxing vibe.

Start with a stay in Melrose with its ruined abbey and pay a visit to the nearby Leaderfoot viaduct over the River Tweed, where Harrison Ford was filmed in Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny. Also on the Tweed is the market town of Kelso, which is not only home to horse racing but the largest inhabited house in Scotland, Floors Castle, built in the 1720s for the first Duke of Roxburghe. 

If you fancy a bit of seaside, you can wander along the beach at Eyemouth before feeding the seals and then feeding yourself at Giacopazzi’s, a superb fish and chip shop (eat in or takeaway) with Italian gelato served next door. After that, you might well feel the need to walk off a few calories, so pop up the coast to St Abbs where a four-mile loop will take you along the coastal path to the dramatical cliffs of St Abb’s Head, around the lighthouse and then Mire Loch with the opportunity to see a wide variety of seabirds as you walk.

There’s always something special about visiting an island and, although you’ll need plenty of time to drive to Genoa or Livorno for the ferry before you even start exploring Sardinia, we think you’ll be glad you made the effort. Or, perhaps you could fly to Cagliari and hire a motorhome there?

Unless you like people watching and looking for the rich and famous, avoid the rather over-developed Costa Smeralda and head to the less busy, less built-up south. This is the region that gives you a feel for real Sardinia.
Start your tour in Cagliari with its ancient palaces, medieval towers and views over the Gulf of Angels, then spot pink flamingos nesting amongst the salt pans of the Molentargius Natural Park. 

You’ll need time to explore the Mediterranean’s second largest island and enjoy its world-class beaches, but don’t ignore the island’s Nuraghic culture dating back to between 1,600 and 400BC. There are around 7,000 stone structures still standing from this period and no one is quite sure what they were used for. The most famous of these is the fortress-like UNESCO World Heritage site of Su Nuraxi with a bastion of four corner towers and one central one.

Please remember that wild camping is prohibited on Sardinia.

Perhaps you watched Fred and Gino: Emission Impossible on ITV over the Christmas holidays? The two celebrity chefs visited Vienna as part of their green tourism trip, highlighting the Austrian capital as one of the most environmentally-friendly cities in Europe. As we all know motorhoming is far greener than air travel, so perhaps this is a city break that you should do in your ’van.

Heritage highlights here include the opera house, St Stephen’s cathedral and the Viennese Wheel (Wiener Riesenrad), a giant, 212ft-tall Ferris wheel with 15 cabins that give you breathtaking views over the rooftops – and it’s all run on renewable energy. You can even have a gourmet cabin for two, naturally with Wiener Schnitzel on the menu.

When you’ve had enough culture, head out to the man-made island in the mighty Danube river, the Donauinsel, created in the 1970s and 80s. Bathing, boating, cycling (with 135km of routes for biking or walking) and beach volleyball all happen on the 21km island which is a favourite recreational space for locals – unsurprisingly, as you’re only 6km from the city centre. There are conservation areas here for nature as well as naturist areas if you want to completely rid yourselves of the trappings of modern life.

Parts of the Lake District are amongst the most picturesque in the whole of the UK, but that also means they can be exceptionally busy at popular times. So why not escape the hordes for a while in Grange-over-Sands. Its heyday may be well past (it was very fashionable here in the 19th century) and its seafront lido just a derelict shadow that seems to be ever awaiting lottery money, but there’s a quiet, genteel feel to the place and a walk around its ornamental gardens and along the promenade enjoying the views across Morecambe Bay to Arnside Knott is one of those pleasures that isn’t too weather-dependent. Legs stretched, pop into the Hazlemere Café for a slice of Cumbrian Rum Nicky, a shortcrust pastry tart filled with dates, rum and ginger. 

If you’re feeling more energetic, you can walk from here to Cartmel, where horse racing has taken place since 1856 – a hilly circular walk takes around three-and-a-half hours. The medieval village of Cartmel has a 12th century priory and 14th century gatehouse, as well as an alpaca farm that you can visit, but today it’s perhaps best known for its two Michelin-starred restaurants. You’ll need to book months ahead to eat at the three-star L’Enclume – the only so-accredited eatery in the north of England – but it’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

France and Spain are probably top when it comes to planning your continental tours but Germany has much to offer the motorhomer (not least, its network of stopovers called stellplatz) – not surprising as it by far the biggest market for motorhome sales.

But we’re not suggest the obvious trip alongside the Rhine, or the Black Forest. Nor even its famous cities, such as Munich and Berlin. Instead, we think you should head along the Baltic coast to Germany’s largest island, Rügen. There’s no need to catch a ferry as a bridge links it to the city of Stralsund. Once there, the Jasmund National Park is a World Heritage site featuring the King’s Chair or Königsstuhl – a unique chalk cliff 118m above sea level.

Rügen (covering 358 square miles) is popular for its sandy beaches and the resort of Binz has Europe’s longest beach promenade as well as a 370m-long pier. Northwest from the town is the Aussichtsturm Adlerhorst, an extraordinary spiral ramp that goes round and round for 600m, taking you 40m above the forest below for panoramic views out to sea and across Rügen.

Prora is an even bigger sight but also a reminder of a grim period of history. Built by the Nazis as part of the Strength Through Joy programme for 20,000 people to holiday here, it was unfinished when the Second World War broke out. Today, part of this 4.5km-long colossus is a museum.